Lipscomb beats Jacksonville, advances to ASUN championship

Mar 2, 2018, 03:52 am

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Garrison Mathews scored 23 points to lead No. 2 seed Lipscomb to a 77-62 victory over third-seeded Jacksonville on Thursday night in an Atlantic Sun Tournament semifinal.

Lipscomb (22-9) has won seven straight and will play at top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast (23-10) in Sunday's championship. The two split the regular season series, with the Bisons winning the last one 90-87 after FGCU rallied from 17 points down.

Mathews was 7-of-10 shooting and made five 3-pointers. Lipscomb had 19 assists on 27 made baskets and hit all 14 of its free-throw attempts.

Cody Helgeland had 24 points for Jacksonville (15-18).

Lipscomb opened the game on a 26-8 run and led 39-25 at the break. The Bisons stretched the lead to 19 points before Jacksonville pulled to 60-48 with 7:00 left. Mathews made back-to-back 3-pointers and Matt Rose added another and the Dolphins couldn't get closer.